A new study shows that reducing civilian casualities in Afghanistan also reduces troop deaths; headlines.

In wartime, there is at least one clear moral imperative: spare civilian life. This is a strategic imperative as well. A new paper from the National Bureau of Economic Research shows that by sparing civilian lives in Afghanistan, U.S. and NATO forces will suffer fewer revenge attacks by insurgents.

At the height of the recession, many companies were offering their employees time off without pay in order to save money and not have to eliminate jobs. Those furloughs are now being replaced by pay cuts, and many fear those pay cuts could potentially lead the United States into a period of deflation. We discuss this with Wall Street and finance reporter for The New York Times, Louise Story.

Reports came out yesterday that legendary NFL quarterback and future hall-of-famer, Brett Favre, is hanging up the spikes and retiring. The news isn't shocking since we've seen this song and dance before from Favre. The Takeaway's sports contributor, Ibrahim Abdul-Matin, does not think it is necessarily real news. He believes Favre has got some juice left in his tank, coming off one of his best seasons last year at the age of 40.

Attempts to permanently seal the ruptured BP oil rig are now well underway, but major concerns about the gusher's cleanup continue to swirl around the Gulf Coast. 

Yesterday New York City's Landmarks Preservation Committee effectively greenlighted the proposed Muslim Center two blocks from Ground Zero by unanimously voting not to give historic protection to the existing building on the center's proposed building site. Takeaway listeners on both sides of the issue responded to the building of the Cordoba Center in downtown Manhattan.

Steve King reached us via email:

"If we really want to strike a blow against al-Qaida, we should embrace moderate muslims even near the 'hallowed ground' spoken about in the show. Christians and Jews and folks of other faiths could walk over at lunchtime and shake some hands. Take that, Bin Laden!"

We frequently aim to pull the curtain back on stories that are hidden or hard to understand…whether they’re political campaigns or scientific breakthroughs. But when it comes to the nation and story of North Korea, the curtain is more like an unscalable wall surrounded by an electric barbed wire fence; few people from the outside are truly able to access what’s so well hidden.

The Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009 takes effect this week; headlines.

This month, the latest rules in the federal credit card overhaul come into effect. Credit card issuers, however, are already finding creative loopholes. Go check your mailbox: There's a good chance you have a letter from your credit card company or bank telling you about new rules and "improved" new features on your account. Some of those were actually mandated by Congress; others are workarounds to earn more money on new fees. 

We want to help you find out what new fees and charges consumers have to watch out for now that the credit card overhaul is taking effect. Tell us what your card company is asking you to sign up for. Or how they are pitching their new features. Send us pictures of the letters even. Or, tell us any stories for paying too much or getting overcharged by a credit card company. 

The Senate still has a few things to do before it goes on August recess. From the "spill bill" to Elena Kagan, Takeaway Washington correspondent, Todd Zwillich has the latest from Capitol Hill.

President Obama has announced his commitment to draw down American forces in Iraq after seven years of combat. There will be 90,000 fewer troops in Iraq by the end of next year. But will the costs – financial, human, emotional – come down as the troops come home?

In an upset, Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick (D-Mich.) lost in the primary to Michigan state senator, Hansen Clarke. Kilpatrick had served in Congress for 13 years. She is also the mother of disgraced Detroit mayor, Kwame Kilpatrick and wasn't able to effectively distance herself from her son in the primary. WDET news director, Jerome Vaughn has more on why she was defeated.

On a day where the temperature hits 95 degrees, the last thing most people want to do is cook dinner. But the summer’s long, takeout gets expensive and there are only so many salads one can eat before boredom sits in. So today, New York Times food writer Melissa Clark brings us a whole host of new, exciting, delicious and EASY summer recipes – leafy green salads not included. The best part? None of them require you to turn on the oven.

Share your favorite cold recipes for a hot day and show us what you've made!  Upload your pictures to our Facebook page.

As the monsoons keep coming, flooding continues to destroy infrastructure and cause panic in Pakistan. Lyse Doucet, BBC correspondent in Islamabad describes the scene. She says that people have been walking for days in "oceans of water" looking for shelter from the rain and that conditions are miserable and unsanitary.